Google Home Hub smart speaker display rumoured to launch on October 9

By
Kunal KhullarSept. 20, 2018, 1:10 p.m.

A new member under the Home smart speaker range could make an appearance

The next big tech event for the year is just around the corner. There have been numerous leaks around the Pixel 3, but here’s something fresh from the rumour mill. It seems that Google will be announcing a new product under its Home smart speaker range called the Google Home Hub.

As per the leaked images, it looks a lot like one of the Smart Display speakers that were launched earlier this year from Lenovo and other brands. If reports are true, then the Google Home Hub is going to be the first of its kind device coming from the search giant. Up until now, Google has three smart speakers, and this seems like a very obvious move as the addition of a display will completely change the way users interact with Google Assistant.

One of the reports say that the Google Home Hub will be priced at $149 (Rs 10,500 approx) which is roughly the same price as the Google Home. It is expected to feature a 7-inch display and should launch alongside the Pixel 3 smartphones on October 9.

A source suggests that the 7-inch LCD display will feature touchscreen capabilities along with a large speaker. Now it won’t run on Android but we are expecting it to run on Google’s rebranded IoT operating system called Android Things along with a special interface for Google Assistant.

Apart from touch operations it will offer voice control like the previous products under the Home category. But the addition of a screen means that users will be able to glance at information like weather, their daily commute, news and so on. As you can see from the alleged images, the speaker sits behind the display acting like a stand for the display.

The Google Home Hub is also expected to expand smart home capabilities by connecting your home appliances including lights, TVs, home cameras, and more. Other than that we are expecting features like Google Photos with Live Albums, YouTube streaming and more to arrive on the new device.

According to reports, Google has partnered with 400 brands to offer compatibility with more than 5,000 smart devices and it will support 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi along with Bluetooth. Surprisingly we don’t see any camera on the device, so video calling might not be possible.

We are expecting more leaks to arrive before the countdown to Google’s event begins, so stay tuned for all the updates.

About the Author

Easily swooned by swanky hardware, Kunal is the Assistant Editor at PCMag India. When not writing or talking about technology, he likes to indulge in prog metal music and visual arts, personalise icons and wallpapers on all his devices, and sipping ice-tea See Full Bio